


Something True [+Podfic]

by xinasvoice



Series: Second Spin [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 14:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17265638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xinasvoice/pseuds/xinasvoice
Summary: Sirius never does things the easy way.This is a fluffy little fic that is meant to follow Second Spin and Say Something, but it can also be read as a stand-alone story.





	Something True [+Podfic]

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chromat1cs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromat1cs/gifts).



> Podfic duration: 13min 14sec  
> [.m4a audio file](https://soundcloud.com/user-824292289/something-true) ~ [ .m4b audiobook file](https://drive.google.com/file/d/19jHBjLlsrqjwWdg2eLdzsHLmFdPhx4hg/view?usp=sharing)
> 
> Ending music is We'll Be Okay by Imaginary Future & Kina Grannis. [Buy it on iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/well-be-okay/1275851084?i=1275851086)
> 
> Thank you to beta readers/listeners [ForeverShippingJohnlock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeverShippingJohnlock/works) and [Emily_Woods](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_Woods/pseuds/Emily_Woods), who actually read this quite a while ago and are very patient!
> 
> Gifted to the astoundingly awesome Chromat1cs, who has been helping me improve my podfic sound!!
> 
>  
> 
> [Follow me on Tumblr](xinasvoice.tumblr.com)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/158228914@N03/45649832495/in/dateposted-public/)

Dinner at Number 12 Grimmauld Place was often an uncertain affair. With seven adults around, they really should have made an effort to assign cooking duties to the most skilled cooks, but they had decided shortly after Teddy was born that meal duties should be rotated equally. Sirius had been temporarily dead at the time, or he would have protested.

Learning to cook had been beneath his dignity as the supposed scion of the House of Black, and once _that_ idea had gotten thrown in the garbage he had been too busy being a legend to get involved with something so mundane. He’d never taken the time to learn, not even during his stay in the afterlife with James, where time had theoretically been infinite and he could have learned whatever he liked.

Harry and Ginny were both skilled and always willing to cook, but they were so busy with their jobs—Auror and professional Quidditch player, respectively—that they often defaulted to quick-cook meals that made Sirius wince. Lack of time was a problem most of them shared, even Sirius, who had recently begun his Healing apprenticeship.

Luna, on the other hand, had a flexible schedule as an author, and had plenty of time to cook homemade meals. Unfortunately, she was also prone to adding weird new herbs to her dishes to help ward off dubious magical hazards, and she only ever cooked _vegan_ food. Sirius shuddered just thinking about it.

Remus was nearly the worst of the lot. It felt disloyal to admit it, but Remus was sadly stingy with food. It was a predictable side effect of living on an uncertain income for so long, but it was still pretty unbearable. By now, minimizing the cost per serving was a knee-jerk reflex, and Remus was also unfortunately prone to serving said food even if it happened to burn, always with a side of protests that it was still good, and perhaps Sirius should just add a bit of ketchup. Remus had the most time of any of them, as he was still on paternity leave from his job as a Defense Against The Dark Arts professor, but Sirius made sure he didn't take on more than his fair share of the cooking duties.

Dora was his unexpected ally in this. Dora, like Sirius himself, had been brought up on chef-prepared fare, and had trouble eating below the Black family status line, even though she was sympathetic to Remus’ issues, being prone to burning food herself. Shortly after Dora had moved back in to stay, she and Sirius had made a secret pact to take turns ‘spontaneously’ bringing home takeaway on the majority of Remus’ cooking days.

Hermione was one of the few of them that had actually been taught to cook as a child, and she also viewed cooking as an intellectual challenge. Together with Ron—who had benefited greatly from having Molly Weasley as a mother—they were the most successful cooks in the household, provided they could get past arguing over whether to follow the latest advances in cooking science or more traditional methods.

As for the final member of the household, he was only eleven months old and still working on holding a spoon the right way ‘round. Fortunately, Teddy was also not yet old enough to be picky.

Tonight’s dinner, a savory pie and a salad, was a Granger-Weasley masterpiece. Hermione had apparently spent several lunch breaks pouring over muggle books on the chemistry of pie crust, and Ron had effortlessly prepared the rest with magical assistance. No one, not even Sirius, could complain of the result.

It was the weekend, so most of them had the day off. Sirius had spent the morning with Remus, Harry, and Teddy at the local playpark. In the afternoon he and Remus had shagged while Teddy napped and played under Dora’s watch. The full moon was two weeks away, and Remus was content and smiling, putting small servings of a deconstructed version of the meat pie onto the tray of Teddy’s high chair. This was the perfect time.

“So I heard something interesting today,” Sirius said, once there was a lull in the conversation, which, as usual, was mostly people griping about work.

“Mmm?” Remus helped himself to another serving of salad.

“You know that Wizengamot judge, Heather Cahill? I heard she’s started performing marriages. Apparently it's legal for her to do it, as far as Wizarding law goes anyways…even though they're not all normal marriages.”

“She’s performing abnormal marriages?” Remus asked, one eyebrow lifted.

“Gay marriages!” Hermione said brightly. “Heather was just telling me about it the other day. The Gamot has been waiting for muggle legislation to pass, but there’s no traction on it. So she looked at the existing laws and found a loophole. She’s doing ceremonies and everything. It's quite lovely.”

“Oh!” Remus smiled. “That’s very encouraging. It has to start somewhere. It’s brave of her to be the first.”

“Yes,” Sirius said, giving Hermione a little glare in hopes of keeping her from continuing to talk about politics. “So, Remus…what do you think?”

One by one, the others seated around the table turned towards them. The clatter of silverware and little side conversations all stopped as thoroughly as if Sirius had cast a silencing spell, creating a thrilling vacuum of sound, a whole room full of potential energy. Sirius felt their gazes like a physical force, and each one made him a little more confident, a little more excited.

Remus was the last to turn. By the time he did, Sirius was beaming, ready to bubble over. Remus stared at him, and the silence dragged on for several perfectly dramatic seconds until Remus finally spoke.

“Did you just _propose?_ ”

Sirius smiled even wider, and he had only just begun to nod when Remus reached out and flicked him right in the middle of his forehead.

“Sirius! That is the most chickenshit proposal I've ever heard!”

Sirius rolled his eyes with pretend disregard, although underneath his heart was pounding. “Like you’ve heard a lot.”

Remus’ eyebrows were raised in a pretense at aloofness, but Sirius, who had spent a lifetime learning to analyze Remus’ face, could detect the hints of a smile. “Three or four.”

“Three or four!” Sirius repeated, horrified. “What do you mean, three or four?” He turned to look at Dora, who put her hands up to show her innocence.

“Don't look at me!” she said. “I was only two of those.”

“Do you really want to?” Remus asked, sounding almost bewildered.

“Jeez, Moony, you’re wounding my ego here,” Sirius said. “You know you’re supposed to say ‘yes,’ right?”

“You haven't actually asked me,” Remus said. “And I meant, do you really want to, with a ceremony and everything?”

Remus was being stubborn, probably because there were so many people watching. He had always been too private for his own good. Sirius was sure Remus would have melted adorably and said yes by now if he had been asked in private—but that was exactly why Sirius had decided to do it this way. He _lived_ for the challenge of chipping away at Remus’ stuffy, Professor-like exterior.

It was time to raise the stakes. Sirius leaned in, holding Remus’ eyes with his own to distract from the movement of his wand under the table.

“I do,” Sirius said. “Wouldn't have gotten you a ring if I didn't.”

“But you didn't—oh!” Remus followed Sirius’ gaze down to the table, where a small box had appeared. Someone at the other end of the table—Harry, from the sound of it—gave a somewhat gushy gasp of surprise.

The sight of the little box broke through Remus’ pretense of indifference, and he smiled, unashamed and lovely with excitement, just as Sirius had known he would be. Remus opened the box, revealing the two simple gold bands inside.

“Oh, there’s two!” Remus said.

“Of course there’s two. You need two people to get married. Merlin’s tit’s, Moony, it’s like you’ve never done this before.” Sirius reached forward to take one of the rings from the box for himself, but Remus swatted him away. Sirius felt a brief moment of doubt—he had been so sure Remus would say yes that he hadn't even really thought about the dreadful alternative—but then Remus grabbed his hand, spread his fingers apart, and put Sirius’ ring on himself.

It was so sweet and so unexpected that Sirius felt like he might burst with love, he was so full of it. Bursting at the table was probably not something Remus would appreciate, so Sirius did the next best thing and kissed him instead. Remus kissed him back in a rare display of public affection, and Sirius thought he might just burst after all.

The rest of the table broke into applause and cheers, which was all just as it should be.

“I love you more than life,” he whispered in Remus’ ear under the cover of the noise as he put the other ring on Remus’ finger. “You know that, right?”

“I know,” Remus said, eyes shining. “I know.”

“Good,” Sirius said. He turned back to the rest of the family. “All right, who wants to help plan a wedding?”

To his delight, everyone, even little Teddy—who surely had no idea what was going on but was always adamant about being included anyways—raised their hands.

THE END


End file.
